From David Thomson, Bishop of Huntingdon

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#washday – spring cleaning for the soul

Coming to a church near you… #washday is a new Church of England project for Lent 2015.

Partly inspired by last summer’s highly popular “ice bucket challenge” where people nominated each other to have a bucket of icy water poured over them for charity, #washday is all about taking part in practical social action during Lent and Holy Week

#washday is a new take on Maundy Thursday. Traditionally, church people have washed people’s feet – or more recently offered free shoe-shining on the streets – on Maundy Thursday, as a way of telling the story of the Last Supper.

So with #washday, go and help your community by washing anything and everything – it could be washing windows for people who would find that difficult, cleaning cars, washing clothes for homeless people, or washing up mugs in an office. You can do your washing on Maundy Thursday itself, during Holy Week, or at some other point during Lent if that is easier.

It’s a chance to use your imagination and think how you can make a real difference in the community. You may like to connect the campaign with fundraising for a water-based charity such as WaterAid.

You can share photos or videos of what you are doing on http://www.washday.org, and also Tweet using the hashtag #washday. #washday is a great opportunity to tell the Easter story in a fun and creative way, showing that Christians are willing to get their hands dirty in the service of others.

It’s a simple idea and works for all ages. There are suggestions of how to get involved – and materials suitable for use in schools on the website http://www.washday.org.